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What is a Hypothesis

❶It must be kept in mind that within the scope of one study, the presence of a number of research questions will affect and potentially increase the complexity of both the study design and subsequent statistical analyses, not to mention the actual feasibility of answering every question. Planning My Research Question or Hypothesis — This resources contains a link to a PowerPoint presentation and a series of tutorials that contain examples and tips for writing research questions and hypotheses.

Research question

The research hypothesis should be stated at the beginning of the study to guide the objectives for research. Whereas the investigators may state the hypothesis as being 1-sided there is an improvement with treatment , the study and investigators must adhere to the concept of clinical equipoise.

According to this principle, a clinical or surgical trial is ethical only if the expert community is uncertain about the relative therapeutic merits of the experimental and control groups being evaluated.

Designing a research hypothesis is supported by a good research question and will influence the type of research design for the study. Acting on the principles of appropriate hypothesis development, the study can then confidently proceed to the development of the research objective.

The primary objective should be coupled with the hypothesis of the study. Study objectives define the specific aims of the study and should be clearly stated in the introduction of the research protocol. Note that the study objective is an active statement about how the study is going to answer the specific research question. Objectives can and often do state exactly which outcome measures are going to be used within their statements.

They are important because they not only help guide the development of the protocol and design of study but also play a role in sample size calculations and determining the power of the study.

For example, the most methodologically sound randomized controlled trial comparing 2 techniques of distal radial fixation would have little or no clinical impact if the primary objective was to determine the effect of treatment A as compared to treatment B on intraoperative fluoroscopy time. However, if the objective was to determine the effect of treatment A as compared to treatment B on patient functional outcome at 1 year, this would have a much more significant impact on clinical decision-making.

Second, more meaningful surgeon—patient discussions could ensue, incorporating patient values and preferences with the results from this study. The following is an example from the literature about the relation between the research question, hypothesis and study objectives:.

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound for chronic patellar tendinopathy: How does low-intensity pulsed ultrasound LIPUS compare with a placebo device in managing the symptoms of skeletally mature patients with patellar tendinopathy? The development of the research question is the most important aspect of a research project. A research project can fail if the objectives and hypothesis are poorly focused and underdeveloped. Useful tips for surgical researchers are provided in Box 3.

Designing and developing an appropriate and relevant research question, hypothesis and objectives can be a difficult task. The critical appraisal of the research question used in a study is vital to the application of the findings to clinical practice. Focusing resources, time and dedication to these 3 very important tasks will help to guide a successful research project, influence interpretation of the results and affect future publication efforts.

No funding was received in preparation of this paper. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Can J Surg v. DeGroote School of Medicine, the. Bhandari, Wellington St. Accepted Jan This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Objectives of this article In this article, we discuss important considerations in the development of a research question and hypothesis and in defining objectives for research.

Research question Interest in a particular topic usually begins the research process, but it is the familiarity with the subject that helps define an appropriate research question for a study. Open in a separate window. Research hypothesis The primary research question should be driven by the hypothesis rather than the data.

Research objective The primary objective should be coupled with the hypothesis of the study. The following is an example from the literature about the relation between the research question, hypothesis and study objectives: Hypothesis are written as statements preceded with the words "I predict. Before writing a hypothesis, the researcher must determine what others have discovered about this subject.

On the other hand, a research question requires less preparation, but focus and structure is critical. For example, a researcher using a hypothesis would look up studies about bleach, information on the chemical properties of the chemical when heated and data about its effectiveness before writing the hypothesis. When using a research question, the researcher would think about how to phrase the question to ensure its scope is not too broad, too narrow or impossible to answer.

When writing the conclusion for research conducted using a hypothesis, the researcher will write whether the hypothesis was correct or incorrect, followed by an explanation of the results of the research. The researcher using only a research question will write the answer to the question, followed by the findings of the research.

Alane Michaelson began writing professionally in It is predictive in nature and typically used when significant knowledge already exists on the subject which allows the prediction to be made. Data is then collected, analyzed, and used to support or negate the hypothesis, arriving at a definite conclusion at the end of the research.

It is always written as a statement and should be developed before any data is collected. A complete hypothesis should include: Commonly used in quantitative research, but not qualitative research which often seeks answers to open-ended questions. A company wellness program will decrease the number sick days claimed by employees.

Consuming vitamin C supplements will reduce the incidence of the common cold in teenagers. How to choose a good scientific problem. Molecular Cell, 35, What makes for good research? Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Handbook in research and evaluation.

Real world research Vol. Introduction to Research Methods. Resource Links Writing Good Quantitative Research Questions — This web resources describes the 3 main types of research questions and provides examples of each.

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Research Question vs Hypothesis. Research in social sciences covers a lot of subjects and makes use of many tools. It all begins with the formulation of a research question or a hypothesis that is sought to be tested and verified under different circumstances.

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A research question would set boundaries for the area to be explored and the answers that your research need to answer and hypothesis is a scientific way in which you assume an answer to the research question or its sub-components and then test if your assumption was correct.

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The following video, Hypotheses vs. Research Questions, discusses how to choose whether to use a hypothesis or a question when creating a research project. It provides a definitions, a comparison of the two, and examples of each. The primary research question should be driven by the hypothesis rather than the data. 1, 2 That is, the research question and hypothesis should be developed before the start of the study. This sounds intuitive; however, if we take, for example, a database of information, it is potentially possible to perform multiple statistical comparisons of.

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A hypothesis is defined as an educated guess, while a research question is simply the researcher wondering about the world. Hypothesis are part of the scientific research method. Main Difference – Hypothesis vs Research Question. Research question and hypothesis are the foundations of a research study. Formulating the research question or developing the hypothesis can help you to decide on the approach of the research.